By Bill Hethcock – Senior Reporter, Dallas Business Journal
Jun 16, 2021
The city of Celina has passed longtime leader Frisco as the hottest new home market in North Texas, according to a look at building permits to date.
Celina has issued 1,352 residential building permits through May 31 of this year, compared to 1,283 in Frisco.
That compares to 629 permits in Celina and 963 in Frisco in the first five months of 2020, although it should be noted that home building slowed in the early months of last year as builders and buyers struggled to figure out the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic. Later in the year, homebuilders in the suburbs north of Dallas-Fort Worth enjoyed a pandemic-driven boom in demand and sales.
Frisco led North Texas in 2020 new home construction permits, with the much-smaller Celina relatively close behind. Builders in Frisco were issued 2,445 residential permits last year compared to 1,862 in Celina.
Frisco has a population of about 210,000, compared with roughly 30,000 people in Celina.
Residential building permits in Celina were up 50 percent last year overall, and they’re pacing to jump even more this year, City Manager Jason Laumer said. So far, they’re up 115 percent year over year.
Celina has created a 30-year plan for how city leaders want the community to grow and a vision that allows developers to deliver high-quality communities more quickly than in other North Texas cities, Laumer said.
“I think we're going to be the fastest-growing city in America,” he said. “If you're looking at Frisco, they were No. 1 from 2010-2020 according to the Census. I think all that growth is coming our way.”
In Celina, 349 home building permits were issued in the month of May, which led all Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs. McKinney was next, with 205 permits in May and 848 year-to-date, according to Addison-based Tomlin Investments, which tracks new home construction in DFW’s fastest-growing suburbs and exurbs.
Princeton, Little Elm and Prosper are also on fire, with 676 single-family home permits, 577 and 564 permits year-to-date, respectively. Princeton is up 97 percent from the 343 permits granted in the first five months of 2020, Little Elm rose 60 percent from the 360 permits in the same period of last year, and Prosper is up 45 percent from the 390 issued in the first five months of 2020.
Other North Texas cities, their year-to-date home building permits, and a comparison to the same period last year are as follows:
Anna: 459 permits year to date, up 94 percent
Melissa, 439, up 64 percent
Denton, 402, up 56 percent
Sherman, 140, up 5 percent
Van Alstyne, 137, up 108 percent
Sanger, 99 permits, up 32 percent from the same period last year.
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